My journey with Kotlin - Part 2: Introduction to Kotlin

This is the second post of a 2-part introduction to Kotlin, a programming language for the JVM. If you are a Java developer, you should read this and, like I did a few months ago, consider the option of learning Kotlin.

If you haven't read it, part 1 will tell you the reasons why you would want to go away from Java.

Kotlin

Kotlin is a JVM language initiated and developed by JetBrains, the company behind IntelliJ IDEA. The primary goals of Kotlin are:

to make the code more concise and more readable than Java code

to make the code safer than pure Java code (i.e. avoid nulls).

Kotlin is a statically typed language and it feels modern. It is also mature: great support is provided in build tools (Maven, Gradle), Spring 5 will provide extended support for Kotlin (to write more idiomatic code), and, last but not least, Android made Kotlin one of its official programming languages.

Kotlin was made for 100% interoperability with Java. You can call Kotlin code from Java code, or call Java code from Kotlin code, without any awkward syntax (unllike sometimes Scala). This also means you can migrate one class at a time. If you use IntelliJ IDEA (and you should), the IDE can convert a file, a package, or a whole codebase automatically. The converted code usually works fine, and you can then adjust it to make it more Kotlin-idiomatic.

Ippon Technologies is an international consulting firm that specializes in Agile Development, Big Data and
DevOps / Cloud.
Our 300+ highly skilled consultants are located in the US, France and Australia. Ippon technologies has a $32
million
revenue and a 20% annual growth rate.

Newsletter

For our news update, subscribe to our newsletter! You can unsubscribe anytime.

Recent Posts

We are IPPON

Proud of our passion for technology and expertise in information systems, we partner with our clients to deliver innovative solutions for their strategic projects.
Through communication, curiosity and team spirit, we offer the best solutions to our customers.